Railway brake beam



July 9, 1957 C. R. BUSCH RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM Filed Feb. 18, 1955 5760 59C)! BY INVENTOR 65 (EVA/P155 AZ 5010/.

med 7 M ATTORNEYS" RAILWAY BRAKE BEAM Charles R. Busch, Orange, N. 3., assigrior to Buffalo Brake Beam Company, a corporation of New York Application February 18, 1955, herial No. 489,144

7 Claims. (Cl. 188--223.1)

I The present invention relates to railway brake beams of the truss lock type and moreparticularly to the means for removably locking the brake heads to the ends of the brake beam truss. The invention is an improvement over the brake head locking construction of U. 8. Patent No. 2,490,204.

Railway brake beams of conventional type comprise a compression member which is substantially straight except for camber, a V-shaped tension member and a strut between these members, these members being rigidly interconnected by an embracing truss lock at each end in the form of a generally rectangular collar. A brake head for supporting the brake shoe is removably attached to each truss lock. This brake head has a substantially rectangular collar surrounding the truss lock and a shoe mounting flange connected to said collar. The brake head collar has a rib or bass on the front wall thereof extending into a recess on the front wall of the truss lock with a snug fit, to form a separable joint connection by which said truss lock and said brake head are interlocked, while between the rear wall of the brake head collar and the rear confronting wall of the truss lock is a space and on these rear walls are opposite parallel grooves to receive therein and into this space a downwardly extending bowed spring key. This spring key draws the brake head rearwardly to cause the rib to enter fully into the recess and to maintain thereby the brake head locked to the truss lock. The upper head of the spring key forms a handle projecting upwardly from the upper side of the brake head collar and its lower tail end projects below the lower side of the brake head collar. The intermediate belly or convex section of the spring key is seated on the rear wall of the truss lock in the groove thereof, while the end sections of the key on the concave side bear against sharp corners .on the rear wall of the brake head collar at the top and bottom.

In loading the brake beams in a railway car with brake heads attached as described, the brake beams are stacked :one above the other. Under these conditions, the weight of a brake beam and the shifting of the car might cause the projecting tail end of the spring key to be pushed upwardly to the point where the key does not hold. Moreover, the small bearing surface between the key and the brake head collar, afforded by the sharp corners on the rear wall of the brake head collar at the top and bottom, allow this key to be shifted too readily out of locking position between the brake head and the truss lock.

One object of the present invention is to provide a new and improved spring key connection between the truss lock and the brake head designed to eliminate the adverse conditions described above.

ln accordance with one feature of the present invention, the lower side of the brake head collar at the rear has an extension forming a housing to enclose and protect the lower tail end of the spring key, so that it does not project beyond the lower side of the brake head.

As a further feature of the invention, a horizontal pin,

*nited States Patent desirably in the form of a cotter pin, is mounted in the side walls of the lower housing extension described above to bear against the front side of the lower tail end of the spring key and to retain thereby said spring key in position.

As a further feature of the present invention, the rear wall of the brake head collar near the top and bottom is provided with long bearing surfaces for contact with corresponding long surfaces on the spring key to retain frictionally the key with greater force.

Various other objects, features and advantages of the invention are apparent from the following description and from the accompanying drawings, in which Fig. l is a top plan view of part of the brake beam embodying the present invention;

Fig. 2 is a section of the brake beam taken on lines 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of the end of the brake beam shown in Fig. 1, but indicated on a larger scale;

Fig. 4 is a section of the end of the brake beam taken on lines 4-4 of Fig. 3; and

Fig. 5 is a section of the brake beam taken along the lines 55 of Fig. 3, but on a smaller scale.

The brake beam 10 of the present construction shown in the drawings, in certain respects, is similar to that of U. S. Patent No. 2,398,918 and is adapted to constitute part of a railway car truck comprising a pair of side frames (not shown) for supporting two parallel axles for car wheels 12 through suitable journals. The brake beams Iii, in the form of trusses, extend between and are sup ported from the side frames, one brake beam being employed for each pair of coaxial wheels. Each brake beam 10 comprises generally a compression member 13, which is substantially straight except for camber, a tension member 1 4 bent into a a and connected to the ends of the compression member in a manner to be described, and a strut 15 between the apex of the tension member and the mid-section of the compression memher to maintain tension in the tension member and to impart camber to the compression member. The com pression member 13 is shown of channel form with a rear web 15, a top flange 17 and a bottom flange 18, and the tension member 14 is shown in the form of a flat bar.

The strut 1:? is provided with a slot 20 to receive the pivot pin (not shown) of a live lever (not shown) constituting part of the brake beam operating mechanism. This brake beam operating mechanism may be of the type shown in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,170,112 and 2,518,- 120.

The means for rigidly interconnecting the compression member 13 and the tension member 14 at each end of the brake beam 10 is similar to that shown in copending application, Serial No. 438,962, filed June 28, 1954, and comprises a truss lock 25 in the form of a collar of generally rectangular shape to receive one end of the compression member 13 with a snug fit and a sloping seat 26 for the tension member 14 as it enters the truss lock. A countersunk rivet 27 passes through the rear web 16 of the compression member 13, through the tension member 14. and through the front and rear walls 28 and 29 of the truss lock 25.

Locked to each of the truss locks 25 at each end of the brake beam 1b, in a manner to be described, is a brake head 30. This brake head has a collar 31 substantially of rectangular formation and a flange 32 to which a brake shoe 33 is attached by means of a spring key (not shown). An opening 3 in this flange 32 re-- ceives a hanger 35 by which the brake beam 10 may be suspended from the side frames for movement towards and away from the car wheels 12, in the manner 'indi cated in U. S. Patents Nos. 2,069,353 and 2,412,388.

The inside dimensions of the brake head collar 31 are larger than the outside dimensions of the truss lock to receive the truss lock in said collar with horizontal clearance, and said collar is held against inward movement along the compression member 13 by means of a flange 36 at the inner end of the truss lock.

The brake head and the truss lock 25 have separable interlocking joint conformations. In the specific form shown, the truss lock 25 for that purpose has a recess 37 on the outside of its front wall 28 and the brake head collar 31 has on the inside of its front wall 38 a rib or tenon 39 extending into said recess with a snug fit to lock the brake head onto the truss lock. The rear wall 29 of the truss lock has on its outside a groove .40 where the shank end of the rivet 27 is upset and countersunk, and the rear wall 41 of the brake head collar 31 on its inside has a groove 42 confronting said groove and parallel thereto. Extending into the opposed grooves 40 and 42 to lock the brake head'30 to the truss lock 25 is a removable spring key 44 serving not only as a locking device but also as a shock absorber for the brake head 30. This key 44 holds the brake head 30 rearwardly with resilient pressure to cause the rib 39 on said head to extend to its full depth into the recess 37 of the truss lock 25 and to insure thereby locking of the brake head 30 onto the truss lock.

The spring key 44 is in the form of a strip of tempered spring steel bowed and having its upper end deflected to form a hand hold 46. This hand hold 46 of the key 44 projects upwardly beyond the upper end of the brake head collar 31 and the top wall 47 and bottom wall 48 of said collar have openings 50 and 51 respectively to permit entry of the key into locking position between the truss lock 25 and the brake head 30 in the assembling of the parts. The belly of the key 44 seats in the groove 40 of the truss lock 25, while sections 52 and 53 of said key near its ends bear against upper and lower corners 54 and 55 respectively of the rear wall 41 of the brake head collar 31.

As a feature of the present invention, the lower tail 56 of the spring 44 does not project beyond the brake head collar 31, as in prior constructions. Instead, the lower end of the brake head collar 31 has a channel extension 57 provided with a rear wall 58 offset rearward- 1y from the main rear wall 41 of the brake head collar to receive the slanting tail 56 of the key 44 in said channel extension and provided also with side walls 59. This extension 57 forms a housing for the tail 56 of the key 44. With the tail 56 of the key 44 so housed and protected, the key is not apt to be pushed upwardly by the weight of the brake beam when forming part of a stack in a railway car or by the shifting of the car.

As a further feature of the invention, in order to retain the key 44 in position against accidental withdrawal, there is provided a pin 60, in the form of a cotter pin, extending through the side walls 59 of the key tail housing 57 and pressing said tail rearwardly against the rear wall 58 of said housing. This cotter pin 60 is driven through holes in the side walls 59 of the key tail housing to press the key tail 56 rearwardly into locked position, after the key 44 has been fitted into position between the truss lock 25 and the brake head 30. By removing this cotter pin 60, the key 44 can be withdrawn from brake head locking position but this requires substantial force.

As a further feature of the invention, the upper and lower corners 54 and 55 of the rear wall 41 of the brake head collar 31, against which the end sections 52 and 53 respectively of the key 44 bear, are bevelled or chamfered to define substantially long bearing surfaces for contact with the key. With the brake head collar 31 so designed, the key 44 is retained with greater friction hold than is possible with prior constructions.

Although the invention is shown applied to a brake beam construction in which the truss lock is riveted to the end of the compression member and tension member forming parts of the brake beam, as far as certain aspects of the invention are concerned, it is applicable to the type of brake beam in which the parts are interlocked by means of a nut at each end of the tension member, as in the construction of U. S. Patent No. 2,419,312.

Also, as far as certain aspects of the invention are concerned, the brake beam, instead of being of the hanger type, may be of the side frame guided type, such as shown in U. S. Patent No. 2,493,913.

While the invention has been described with particular reference to a specific embodiment, it is to be understood that it is not to be limited thereto, but is to be construed broadly and restricted solely by the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

l. A railway car brake beam comprising a truss having a substantially straight compression member, a vshaped tension member, said members meeting at their ends, a strut between said members, said truss when mounted for operation being adapted to extend in a substantially horizontal plane, a truss lock in the form of a collar embracing said members at each end, and means rigidly connecting the truss locks to the meeting ends of said members, a brake head at each end of the truss adapted to support a brake shoe and having a collar embracing a corresponding truss lock, the truss lock and corresponding brake head collar having respective confronting walls on one side and having separable interlocking joint conformations on the opposite side, and a spring key in the form of a bowed strip between said confronting walls extending substantially in upright position in relation to the general plane of the truss and having a frictional bearing contact with one of said walls at one region and having frictional bearing contacts with the other wall at two other spaced regions on opposite sides of said first mentioned region above and below the latter region, whereby the spring key urges the truss lock and the brake head collar into relative positions to maintain their joint conformations into interlocking positions, said spring key being free from such positive locking means as would prevent said key from being with drawn endwise upward from cooperative bearing relations with said truss lock and said brake head collar and being retained in operative position against upward movement by the friction hold afforded by the bearing contacts at said wall regions, said spring key having a lower end section projecting below the lowest of said regions, and one of said walls having a housing at its lower end protectively enclosing said projecting lower end section of the spring key.

2. A railway car brake beam comprising a truss having a substantially straight compression member, a V- shaped tension member, said members meeting at their ends, a strut between said members, a truss lock in the form of a collar embracing said members at each end, and means rigidly connecting the truss locks to the meeting ends of said members, a brake head at each end of the truss adapted to support a brake shoe and having a collar embracing a corresponding truss lock, the truss lock and the corresponding brake head collar having respective confronting walls on one side and having separable interlocking joint conformations on the opposite side, and a spring key in the form of a bowed strip between said confronting walls having its belly pressing with friction contact against the intermediate section of one of said walls and its end sections bearing with friction contacts against the corners of the other wall near its ends to urge resiliently the truss lock and the brake head in relative positions to maintain their joint conformations in interlocking position said spring key being free from such positive locking means as would prevent said key from being withdrawn endwise in one direction, and being retained in operative position against endwise movement in said direction by the friction hold afforded by said pressing and bearing contacts, said corners being chamfered to afiord extended bearing surfaces for the spring key, and said spring key being in contact with said surfaces along substantially the full lengths thereof.

3. A railway car brake beam comprising a truss having a substantially straight compression member, a V- shaped tension member, said members meeting at their ends, a strut between said members, a truss lock in the form of a collar embracing said members at each end, and means rigidly connecting the truss locks to the meeting ends of said members, a brake head at each end of the truss adapted to support a brake shoe and having a collar embracing a corresponding truss lock, the truss lock and the corresponding brake head collar having respective confronting walls on one side extending substantially vertically in operative position of the brake beam and separable interlocking joint conformations on the oppositesides, a spring key in the form of a bowed strip between said confronting walls extending substantially upright in operative position of the brake beam, the belly of the spring key seating with friction contact against the intermediate section of the wall of the truss lock and the end section of the spring key bearing with friction contacts against the corners of the other wall near its ends to urge resiliently the truss lock and the brake head in relative positions to maintain their joint conformations in interlocking position, said spring key being free from such positive locking means as would prevent said key from being withdrawn endwise upward, and being retained in operative position against upward movement by the friction hold afforded by said seating and bearing contacts, said corners being chamfered to afford substantially long bearing surfaces for the spring key, and said spring key being in contact with said surfaces along substantially the full lengths thereof.

4. A railway car brake beam as described in claim 1, comprising a pin in said housing pressing with friction contact the lower projecting end section of the spring key to press the spring key against the lower friction bearing region of said other wall.

5. A railway car brake beam comprising a truss having a substantially straight compression member, a V- shaped tension member, said members meeting at their ends, a strut between said members, said truss when mounted for operation being adapted to extend in a substantially horizontal plane, a truss lock in the form of a collar embracing said members at each end, and means rigidly connecting the truss locks to the meeting ends of said members, a brake head at each end of the truss adapted to support a brake shoe and having a collar embracing a corresponding truss lock, the truss lock and corresponding brake head collar having respective confronting walls on one side and having separable interlocking joint conformations on the opposite side, and a spring key in the form of a bowed strip between said confronting walls extending substantially in upright position in relation to the general plane of the truss and having a belly pressing with friction contact against the intermediate region of the wall of the truss lock, said spring key having sections spaced above and below said intermediate section and bearing with friction contacts against the upper and lower regions respectively of the wall of said brake head collar, whereby the spring key urges the truss lock and the brake head collar into relative positions to maintain their joint conformations into interlocking positions, said spring key being free from such positive locking means as would prevent said key from being withdrawn endwise from cooperative bearing relations with said truss lock and said brake head collar and being retained in operative position against upward movement .by the friction hold afforded by the bearing contacts at said wall regions, said spring key having a lower end section projecting below the lower region, the wall of said brake beam collar having at its lower end a channel extension housing the lower projecting end section of said spring key, and a pin passing through opposite walls of said channel extension and pressing with friction contact the lower end section of the spring key to press the spring key against the lower region of the wall of said brake head collar.

6. A railway car brake beam comprising a truss having a substantially straight compression member, a V- shaped tension member, said members meeting at their ends, a strut between said members, said truss when mounted for operation being adapted to extend in a substantially horizontal plane, a truss lock in the form of a collar embracing said members at each end, and means rigidly connecting the truss locks to the meeting ends of said members, a brake head at each end of the truss adapted to support a brake shoe and having a collar embracing a corresponding truss lock, the truss lock and corresponding brake head collar having respective confronting walls on one side and having separable interlocking joint conformations on the opposite side, and a spring key in the form of a bowed strip between said confronting walls extending substantially upright in operative position of the brake beam, the belly of the spring key pressing with friction contact against the intermediate section of the wall of the truss lock and the end sections of the spring key bearing with friction contacts against the corners of the wall of the brake head collar near its upper and lower ends to urge resiliently the truss lock and the brake head collar in relative positions to maintain their joint conformations in interlocking positions, said spring key being free from such positive locking means as would prevent said key from being withdrawn endwise upward, and being retained in operative position against upward movement by the friction hold afforded by said pressing and bearing contacts, said spring key having a lower end section projecting below the lower corner of the brake head collar and said brake head collar having a housing below the lower corner protectively enclosing said lower end section of the spring key, said corners being chamfered to alford substantially long bearing surfaces for the spring key, and said spring key being in contact with said surfaces .along substantially the full lengths thereof.

7. A railway car brake beam as described in claim 6, the upper end section of the spring key projecting beyond the upper corner of the brake head collar and being offset to form a hand hold in exposed accessible position beyond the upper end of the brake head collar.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 813,706 Huntoon Feb. 27, 1906 988,609 White Apr. 4, 1911 1,076,956 Crone Oct. 28, 1913 1,315,399 Peycke Sept. 9, 1919 2,490,204 Busch Dec. 6, 1949 

